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Spark	By : DivineAngel Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 20930 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 20
- 21
- 22
Chapter 21: The Old
Gang

Harry turned an odd shade
of grey and his eyes lingered on an empty spot on the desk in front
of him. Ron's mouth hung open and his eyes moved slowly between
Hermione, Dumbledore and Harry. Hermione shifted uncomfortably on her
feet by the fire and waited for her friends to say something.
Dumbledore steepled his fingers in front of his face and watched
Harry over his half-moon spectacles. After a long moment Harry made a
strange guttural noise in his throat and everyone looked at him
expectantly.

'Huh.' He said, sounding
surprised and Ron snorted.

'Look, Harry, Professor
Snape is going to do the hardest part. By the time we get to the
meeting point Voldemort's powers will be gone, all being well. We'll
focus on the Death Eaters and carve out a path to him for you,
hopefully before he realises that he's powerless.' Hermione said as
slowly as she could manage, given the restlessness she felt throbbing
in her chest.

'Then I just have to
finish the job.' Harry snarled, casting a significantly dark look
right at Dumbledore. 'I'd hoped there was going to be some way around
that little clause. It seems a lot like you've been assuming that the
stupid prophecy has to be fulfilled, like there's no alternative.'

Hermione frowned and took
a step closer to Harry. The picture began to appear a little clearer.
Harry's behaviour after the night in the Department of Mysteries, his
changed attitude towards Dumbledore began to make more sense.

'Harry? I thought that
you felt it was, I don't know, your personal duty to do it. I
thought, I thought that revenge...' She faltered. She had always
assumed that Harry's vengeful feelings were strong enough to drive
him to killing Voldemort, but had dearly hoped that he would find it
in himself to be the bigger man. At the same time, she had gotten so
used to the idea of this power-stripping potion and what they were
doing it for and had come to feel that it was the only way for the
absolute end of Voldemort's threat, she had begun to take it for
granted that Harry would kill the creature.

'He killed my parents, he
has caused so much pain and suffering to so many people. Azkaban's
not the answer. His ideas will never be completely gone from the
world and his followers would find a way to free him and restore his
powers. I've known he had to die for a long time. But am I a killer?
Just from a technical point of view, I would have to use the Killing
Curse and I don't know if...' He closed his eyes and drew his lips
tightly over his teeth. 'When Bellatrix killed Sirius, I couldn't do
it, there was something missing.'

Dumbledore rested his
hands on the desk and smiled a little.

'Harry, you won't be
there alone and you know it must be done. Focus on putting right the
world, on finally finding peace after the terrible start you had to
life, thanks to Voldemort.' Dumbledore's voice was low and soothing.
But Hermione watched the look of fury on Harry's face as the old
wizard spoke.

'Look, I think we'd
better go and get out of your hair, Professor. We'll be back at six.'
She dashed to Harry's side and hoisted his arm, bringing him to his
feet, Ron followed suit, his mouth still slightly agog as they left
the office and descended to the corridor below.

'So.' Ron finally spoke.
'We're really dong this? Tonight it ends.' Hermione looked at him as
they walked quickly towards Gryffindor tower, wondering what was
going to spill out of his mouth that might upset Harry. 'It feels
weird. I suppose I always thought there would be some sort of final
battle, but I assumed we'd be taken by surprise, not planning the
offensive.' Hermione looked around the corridors, there were a few
people passing and walking the same way as them, but no one seemed to
have heard Ron's unguarded ramblings and there was no one to be
particularly worried about.

'I think we'd better wait
until we get back to the common room before we discuss this further.
Don't you, Ron?' She asked pointedly. He shrugged and looked a bit
embarrassed.

~#~#~#~

A few minutes later the
trio had a corner of the common room to themselves and huddled
together around a small, round table, whispering like they always
used to. 'I know they would want to be included, Ron, but I'm just
saying, it's really not a good idea.' Hermione hissed.

'But you know you're
sounding just like I bet Dumbledore usually does when talking about
us. They can help and they should. Just think how they'd feel if they
were left behind and we were included by the Order.' Ron looked
pleadingly at Harry for support and Hermione scanned the room, she
spotted Neville, who was reading and Ginny who was laughing with one
of the girls from her year. She thought of Luna in her own common
room probably on her own and felt a pang of sympathy for Ron's
feelings. She wasn't going to admit this to her friends, but she was
petrified and didn't want to put more of her friends in danger. But
she knew Ron was right and gave a slow nod before standing up and
walking over to Neville, with Ron and Harry watching her carefully.

'Neville?' He looked up
from his book and gave a broad smile. 'Can you please meet us at the
Room of Requirement in twenty minutes? Run and find any of the DA you
can, they're probably in the Great Hall finishing dinner, and get
them there.' Without a word or hesitation he slammed his book and
tore from the room, Hermione had to laugh.

'Hermione?' Harry called
across the room.

'Go. I'll meet you
there.' She ran up to her room and rifled through her bedside drawer
frantically until her fingers grasped the golden coin. She tapped her
wand to it and the numbers shifted to display the time fifteen
minutes ahead and it grew warm in her hand. With a smile she ran back
down to the common room and grabbed hold of Ginny, dragging her away
from her friend and out the portrait hole, wriggling and protesting
in her hard grip.

'Hermione?! What are you
doing?' Ginny cried as she was dragged along the corridor.

'I'll explain when we get
there. Come on, there isn't time.' Hermione felt panic rising in her
chest, they were running short of time and she knew that Severus
would be readying himself now. Next time she saw him they would be
approaching the Death Eaters with their wands drawn. When they came
to the familiar stretch of corridor on the seventh floor Ginny
finally stopped protesting. A small group were stood by as Harry
paced back and forth, Hermione smiled at the sight of Neville,
Hannah, Dean, Seamus, Lavender and the Patils. Seamus was chewing and
Dean was holding a chunk of bread covered in butter. Hermione smiled
at the thought of them abandoning their dinner for the DA after so
many months since their last meeting. Amid enthusiastic discussion
the group filed into the room as Harry held the door open, he and Ron
filing in after the others and Hermione indicated for Ginny to go in
ahead of her. She stopped and looked both ways along the corridor and
saw a familiar head of dirty blond hair turn the corner. Luna sidled
towards her, taking her time, she gave Hermione a vacant smile and
held out her palm, her coin glistening on it.

'I got your message,
Hermione, good job I still carry this.' She said, dreamily. Hermione
chuckled and followed Luna into the room. It was just as she
remembered it from the previous year, cushions scattered across the
floor and shelves lined with books. The group were settling
themselves on the cushions around Harry and Ron, still talking loudly
with varied looks of concern, excitement and fear.

Hermione joined Harry and
Ron and the group quietened down, looking eagerly to them for
answers.

'What's going on? Why are
we here again?' Seamus called out from the middle, a mild smile on
his face as if he thought this might be a wind up. Hermione looked at
Harry, he was staring at the floor and fidgeting with his robe
sleeve. With a sigh Hermione stepped forward and cleared her throat.

'OK. I would go on about
it being great to see you all in here again and reminisce about
Umbridge and DA members not here or whatever. But frankly, there
isn't time. We've called you guys here to ask for your help. When we
formed the DA it was to prepare ourselves for facing dark wizards, in
case we ever needed to defend ourselves. Well, for those of you who
want to, tonight you can put what Harry taught you to use against...
well, against the Death Eaters.' There were shocked gasps and cries
from the small group.

'No way!' Dean's
surprised voice carried over the others. Hermione noticed Ginny's
lack of surprise, her narrow eyes fixed on Harry as if adding
something up.

'Hermione?' Neville stood
up and looked intently at her, his eyes showing signs of fear that
she could utterly relate to. 'What's going on? If any of us are going
to help, we need to know more.' He stated awkwardly.

'Voldemort's planning to
strike late tonight. His targets include the Ministry and some of our
families.' Harry said bluntly, stepping forward to face the shocked
faces before him. 'We are going to strike first.' Panic filled the
room and Harry held his hands up. 'Not just us! Dumbledore has
people, Ron's parents and brothers, people in the Ministry. They're
the ones planning this. We just thought that some of you would want
to be included.'

Luna stood and moved
forward to stand beside Neville. She grasped his hand and they looked
at each other, Luna smiling benignly and Neville looking taken aback,
one by one the others stood too and formed a line, silently agreeing
to do this. Hermione looked at her friends and a small tear slid down
her cheek at the thought of any of them not returning to Hogwarts
after the battle. She took Harry's hand and squeezed it tightly,
wiping the tear from her face with her other hand. He looked down at
her and his mouth twitched towards a smile, only to flicker away
again as Ron took her other hand and the three of them shared a
moment of both hope and sadness.

~#~#~#~

At six o'clock Hermione
reached out and knocked on Dumbledore's office door, the group
jostling on the stairs behind her and doing an appalling job of
keeping quiet. The door swung open and Professor McGonagall stood
dumbstruck in the doorway, her eyes darting over the students
gathered there. She stood aside, taking in the situation without
needing to ask what was going on and the group filed into the little
room, bunching up around the headmaster's desk. Dumbledore was
standing by the window and he surveyed the twelve students in his
office, Professor McGonagall, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Tonks and Moody
were gathered together, each looking confused or bemused by the
rather large party of students.

Hermione's mouth twitched
as she tried not to laugh at the scene of all these people crammed
into Dumbledore's little office, the older witches and wizards
gawking wordlessly as the students eyeballed the headmaster with
steely resolve.

'Miss Granger?'
Dumbledore finally spoke, his voice distant and rather higher than
usual.

'Yes, sir?' She asked
politely.

'May I assume that all of
these students are here for the same reason as Harry, Ron and
yourself?' He asked with a small smile, waving his hand casually to
indicate the group huddled around her. Hermione raised her eyebrows
and gave a small nod, being sure to smile back. 'I see.' He stated,
equally politely.

'This is absurd!'
Spluttered McGonagall from the back of the room. 'Back to your common
rooms, the lot of you.' She started bustling about trying to shoo all
but Harry, Ron and Hermione away. The group however, stood their
ground, some more confidently than others.

'Now, now, Professor. I
suspect there will be no arguing this point with any of them.'
Dumbledore chimed as he opened a small cupboard next to the window
and pulled out a bent frisby, an empty water bottle and a torn
magazine, placing them on the desk. McGonagall stopped fussing,
clasped her hands tightly and proceeded to roll her tongue
aggressively around her mouth. Hermione exchanged raised eyebrows
with Harry over Dumbledore's lack of resistance and the people in the
room jostled around the desk, conversation breaking out around them.

'I believe it's time,
Dumbledore.' The cool, deep voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt cut through
the room.

'Yes, yes. So it is. Now
then, everyone.' The headmaster called the room back to order, all
eyes returned to him. 'We have another group apparating in to the
field from another location. Our group being much larger than
anticipated and consisting of numerous members who cannot apparate,
will go by portkey.' He indicated the odd items on his desk. 'Please
be aware that what you have undertaken is dangerous and I urge you
all to be cautious and to support one another. We will almost
certainly have the advantage of numbers, so stick together in pairs
or more.' The students gathered nodded fiercely, some gulping and
sweating, others almost shaking and friends grasped hands or
exchanged nods to indicate pairings.

Hermione glanced at the
fireplace, there was no fire burning tonight and her thoughts flew to
Severus as he put himself directly in harm's way. Before she could
dwell further the room was full of motion and chaos as Dumbledore
handed the items around and the Order and DA members manoeuvred to
grasp hold of one portkey or another. She felt Ron gulp heavily just
behind her, his arm reaching over hers to get a finger on the water
bottle she found herself holding. Harry linked his arm with hers and
took hold of the bottle with his other hand, giving Hermione a
squeeze of reassurance.

'This is it.' He
whispered so that only she heard. She barely had time to turn her
face to see his when she felt the sudden jolt at her navel and the
world began to spin wildly around her.

AN: Thank you all for
your reviews, they are so encouraging! I hope you all enjoyed this
new chapter, the next (and probably last) one is well under way. Now
go hit that review button and feed the author :-p
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